Tuesday, July 4 2006 16:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Berlin: Jurgen Klinsmann says hosts Germany have built up enough momentum to overcome Italy in Tuesday's World Cup semi-final and delight the home fans by winning the title for the fourth time.

After triumphing over Argentina in a dramatic penalty shootout in their quarter-final Germany are now pitted against Italy but typically manager Klinsmann is full of optimism.

"I believe the confidence that we have built over the last six weeks is enough to win the next two games and become world champions," Klinsmann said at Monday's press conference.

"We know we have the two biggest hurdles in front of us. But we want to go for it and hopefully make it to Sunday's final," he said.

Italy, like Germany, have won three World Cups and Klinsmann expects a tough match in Dortmund.

"A classic World Cup semi-final against Italy is something special," said the 41-year-old.

Italy are one of the best teams in the world and that is why they are in the final four. They have a great footballing tradition and deserve respect," he said.

"But we think if we play our own game we can beat them. We will go into the game on Tuesday with the feeling that we will beat them," he said.

In March, Italy crushed Germany 4-1 in a Florence friendly and there were some calls for Klinsmann's head but the coach said he had faith his team would come good at the right time.

"You are always going to get hammered when you lose 4-1," Klinsmann admitted.

"But friendlies are not that important and I always believed we could make it happen and go far in this tournament," he said.

Klinsmann acknowleges the game against Italy will be emotional for him due to his fondness for the country where he spent two seasons with Inter Milan. "My time in Italy gave me a lot. I learnt a lot from the people and their mentality," said the 1990 World Cup winner with West Germany.

"I still have a lot of friends in Milan and a real bond to the country. They do not just have fantastic food and expressos," he said.

Italy, renowned for being ultra defensive, are likely to hit Germany on the counter attack but Klinsmann is sticking by his policy of going for the throat.

"Success is always the most important thing but we stand by our philosophy," Klinsmann declared.

"The fact that Argentina changed their team to combat us shows we have got a lot of respect from opponents," he said.

"We believe in the way we play and try to put opposition under pressure and push them back," he said.

Klinsmann says his charges are also prepared for going a goal down like they did against Argentina.

"We always deal with the psychological impact. We prepared our team for coming further and we are at the stage where we have to prepare for things not going our way," Klinsmann explained.

"If we go a goal down - as we did against Argentina we say to the players 'it is not a problem just keep going and believe in yourselves," he said.

A possible suspension for key midfielder Torsten Frings - who is being investigated by football's governing body FIFA for an incident in the melee after the Argentina game - has not helped preparations.

"We always make contingency plans. It does not matter if someone drops out through suspension or injury, there is always someone to come in," Klinsmann added.



"We believe Torsten will be back again. He shut out (Juan Roman) Riquelme against Italy and (Francesco) Totti is up next if he can play," he said.